Outside mirror protector

ABSTRACT

Vehicle body protectors for protecting external mirrors and a lower portions of the vehicle extending from a rear surface of the front wheel well to a front surface of the rear wheel well under the doors of the vehicle are constructed from conformable sheets of impact absorbing material having peripheral means for coupling the protector to non-external portions of the vehicle body and to other portions of the protector so that the body protectors remain in fixed position on the vehicle body during motion of the vehicle. The body protectors can be formed from more than one layer of material to form an outer layer, a liner layer of resilient energy absorbing material positioned on the under surface of the outer layer for engagement with an outer surface of the vehicle body, and optionally an intermediate reinforcing layer. At least the liner layer comprises a hydrophobic material and the outer layer includes channels for drawing water away from the liner layer to inhibit any contribution to vehicle body corrosion.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is a divisional of Ser. No. 10/108,738 filed Mar. 28, 2002.

This invention pertains generally to devices for protecting the finishon vehicles while the vehicles are being driven. The inventionparticularly pertains to devices for protecting vehicle finishes fromchipping, scratching and other abrasion resulting from gravel, rocks andother flying debris that may be kicked up by either the protectedvehicle or other passing vehicles. The invention is directed to portionsof the vehicle body that are particularly prone to such damage, but arenot protected by common vehicle nose bras.

Vehicle nose bras are known that have a variety of shapes and featuresas disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,219,218; 4,997,229;5,056,817; 5,424,924; 5,975,621; and D 400,845. Vehicle nose brastypically cover a front portion of the hood, a front portion of thefenders, and generally the grill and front bumper, and some immediatelyadjacent portions of a vehicle. The general purpose of such vehicle nosebras is to prevent, or at least inhibit, body damage arising from flyingroad debris such as stones, as well as bug stains, road grime, and taras the vehicle is being driven. The nose bras are generally constructedas a protective cover formed to fit over the affected portion of thevehicle and to be secured in place with spring clamps, tensioning cords,webbing, tabs, hook and eye fabric fasteners, and/or magnets. Theprotective cover forming the vehicle nose bras is typically made fromvinyl or other heat resistant plastic that can have a backing of fleece,foam, felt or other soft material.

Although the various structural elements to form vehicle nose bras havebeen available for many years, and considerable experience has beengained in the field that permits those skilled in the art to designworkable vehicle nose bras that conform to the many models of vehicleson the market, there has been no development of vehicle body protectorsfor other areas of vehicles that suffer comparable rates of body damagedue to flying debris. It is therefore an object of the present inventionto employ the materials and principals reflecting the general state ofthe art in vehicle nose bras to construct protectors for other portionsof motor vehicles. It is a further object to avoid some of the negativecharacteristics-that have been reported with respect to certain nosebras. It is a further object to present an attractive addition tovehicle protective hardware that can easily be adapted for a variety ofmodels of vehicles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, a first vehicle body protector of the present invention isintended to protect an external mirror that includes a shell having aforward-facing decorative surface. The mirror also includes arearward-facing reflective surface that generally has a perimeter thatis spaced from the shell to permit adjustment of the reflective portionwithout requiring movement of the shell. The external mirror istypically coupled to a door of a motor vehicle so that a driver of thevehicle can view the left or right side of the vehicle. The vehicle bodyprotector for the external mirror includes an enveloping portioncontoured to fit over the decorative forward-facing surface of theexterior mirror shell. A collar portion is contoured to surround theshell, yet leave exposed, the rearward-facing reflective surface. A cuffportion includes fasteners that are adapted to engage each other betweenthe rearward-facing reflective surface of the mirror and an externalsurface of the door. A tab can be coupled to an interior edge of theenveloping portion with the tab having a first engagement member forcoupling to a first cooperating structure located on an internal surfaceof said door.

A second vehicle body protector of the present invention is intended toprotect a lower portion of the side of a vehicle located longitudinallyrearward of the front wheel well, longitudinally forward of the rearwheel well, and vertically below any door openings. The vehicle bodyprotector is formed by a sheet of impact absorbing material and includesa forward central portion configured to extend from the front wheel wellalong the side of a vehicle below any door opening and a forward flapportion coupled to the forward central portion that is configured toextend into the front wheel well. The forward flap portion has a firstengagement member for coupling the forward flap portion to a firstcooperating structure located inside the front wheel well. An upper flapportion is coupled to the forward central portion and is configured toextend into the door opening. The upper flap portion has a secondengagement member for coupling to a second cooperating structure locatedinside the threshold of the door opening. A lower flap portion iscoupled to the forward central portion and is configured to extend underthe side of the vehicle. The lower flap portion has a third engagementmember for coupling to a third cooperating structure located inward ofthe innermost margin of the side of the vehicle body. The second vehiclebody protector preferably also includes a rear-central portionconfigured to extend from the rear wheel well longitudinally forwardalong the side of the vehicle below any door opening. The rear-centralportion is coupled to or made unitary with the forward central portionso that the entire side of the vehicle below any door opening isentirely covered by the second vehicle body protector. A rearward flapportion is coupled to the rear-central portion and is configured toextend into the rear wheel well where a fourth engagement member isprovided for coupling to a fourth cooperating structure located insidethe rear wheel well.

The engagement members that are used with the vehicle body protectors ofthe present invention can be in the form of a plurality of discretefasteners spaced from each other and positioned to engage a cooperatingplurality of fasteners fixed to the vehicle body. Alternatively, theengagement members can be in the form of a continuous fastener stripfixed along a margin of a flap portion and positioned to engage in atleast a partially continuous cooperating fastener strip fixed to thevehicle body. Other fastening members can be employed such as springclamps and magnets.

The vehicle body protectors of the present invention are preferably madeof at least two layers of material. The layers can include one or morelayers of impact absorbing material, a liner layer that will protect theouter finish of the vehicle body, and one or more reinforcing layer toinhibit unwanted deformation of the body protector. In a preferredembodiment, at least the liner layer comprises a hydrophobic materialthat will reduce the moisture contact with the finish of the vehiclewhile the outer-most layer includes capillary channels for drawing wateraway from the liner layer.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art from the following description ofpreferred embodiments of the invention that are depicted in thedrawings, to which the following description makes specific reference.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle including body protectors ofthe present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front elevation view of a body protector of the presentinvention for an external mirror.

FIG. 3 is a rear elevation view of the body protector and mirror shownin FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4—4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is another perspective view of a body protector of the presentinvention intended to protect a lower portion of the side of a vehicle.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6—6 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a side elevation detail of an overlapping section of one ofthe body protectors shown in FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A motor vehicle 10 is shown in FIG. 1 having two body protectors 12 and14 according to the present invention. The body protector 12, shown ingreater detail in FIGS. 2-4, is intended to protect an external mirror16 that includes a shell 18 having a forward-facing decorative surface20 that is prone to suffer body damage arising from flying road debrissuch as stones, as well as bug stains, road grime, and tar as thevehicle 10 is being driven. The mirror 16 also includes arearward-facing reflective surface 22 that generally has a perimeter 24that is spaced from the shell 18 to permit adjustment of the reflectivesurface 22 without requiring movement of the shell 18. The externalmirror 16 is typically coupled to a door 26 of the motor vehicle 10 sothat a driver of the vehicle 10 can view the left or right side of thevehicle. While FIG. 1 only depicts a single mirror 16, it will beappreciated that similar mirrors are often mounted on both sides of thevehicle 10, and the body protectors 12 and 14 of the present inventionare intended for use on either or both sides of the vehicle 10.

The vehicle body protector 12 is shown to include a layer 56 of impactabsorbing material such as a soft vinyl that will cushion the exteriormirror shell 18 from impact by flying objects. A liner layer 58 is alsoincluded that will protect the outer finish of the exterior mirror shell18. The liner layer 58 preferably comprises a hydrophobic material thatwill reduce the moisture contact with the finish of the mirror shell 18.One particularly suitable material for the liner layer 58 ismicro-textured TEFLON®. The body protector 12 also includes areinforcing layer 60 to inhibit unwanted deformation of the bodyprotector 12 by the passing flow of air as the motor vehicle 10 is beingdriven. One particularly suitable material for the reinforcing layer 60is a mesh of oriented PET (polyethylene terephthalate). An outer layer62 is provided that is preferably decoratively colored to coordinatewith the color of the exterior of the vehicle 10. The outer layer 62preferably includes substantially invisible capillary channels fordrawing water away from the more inner liner layers.

The vehicle body protector 12 is shown to include a layer 56 of impactabsorbing material such as a soft vinyl that will cushion the exteriormirror shell 18 from impact by flying objects. A liner layer 58 is alsoincluded that will protect the outer finish of the exterior mirror shell18. The liner layer 58 preferably comprises a hydrophobic material thatwill reduce the moisture contact with the finish of the mirror shell 18.One particularly suitable material for the liner layer 58 ismicro-textured TEFLON® material composed of syntheticfluorine-containing polymers. The body protector 12 also includes areinforcing layer 60 to inhibit unwanted deformation of the bodyprotector 12 by the passing flow of air as the motor vehicle 10 is beingdriven. One particularly suitable material for the reinforcing layer 60is a mesh of oriented PET (polyethylene terephthalate). An outer layer62 is provided that is preferably decoratively colored to coordinatewith the color of the exterior of the vehicle 10. The outer layer 62preferably includes substantially invisible capillary channels fordrawing water away from the more inner liner layers.

The vehicle body protector 14 is intended to protect a lower portion 70of the side 72 of vehicle 10, the lower portion 70 being locatedlongitudinally rearward of the front wheel well 74, longitudinallyforward of the rear wheel well 76, and vertically below any dooropenings 78. The vehicle body protector 14 can be a one-piececonstruction as shown in FIG. 5 or a two-piece construction as shown inFIGS. 1 and 7. In the two-piece construction, the vehicle body protectorincludes a forward portion 80 for protecting the vehicle 10 from thefront wheel well 74 rearward, and a rearward portion 82 for protectingthe vehicle 10 from the rear wheel well 76 forward to the forwardportion 80, the two portions 80 and 82 generally overlapping as shown inFIGS. 1 and 7.

The one-piece vehicle body protector 14, and the forward portion 80 ofthe two-piece body protector 14, includes a forward central portion 84configured to extend from the front wheel well 74 along the side of thevehicle 10 below the door opening 78. A forward flap portion 86 iscoupled to the forward central portion 84 and is configured to extendinto the front wheel well 74. The forward flap portion 86 has engagementmember 88 for coupling the forward flap portion 86 to a cooperatingstructure 90 located inside the front wheel well 74. An upper flapportion 92 is coupled to the forward central portion 84 and isconfigured to extend into the door opening 78. The upper flap portion 92has an engagement member 94 for coupling to cooperating structure 96located inside the threshold 98 of the door opening 78 as shown in FIG.6. A lower flap portion 100 is coupled to the forward central portion 84and is configured to extend under the vehicle 10. The lower flap portion100 has an engagement member 102 for coupling the lower flap portion tocooperating structure 104 located inward of the innermost margin 106 ofthe side of the vehicle 10. As shown in FIG. 5, the vehicle bodyprotector 14 also includes a rear-central portion 108 configured toextend from the rear wheel well 76 longitudinally forward along the sideof the vehicle 10 below any door opening 78 to unitarily join with theforward central portion 84. A rearward flap portion 110 is coupled tothe rearward central portion and configured to extend into the rearwheel well 76. The rearward flap portion 110 includes engagement members112 for coupling to cooperating structure 114 located inside the rearwheel well 76.

The rear-central portion 108 and rearward flap portion 110 are includedin the rearward portion 82 of the two-piece construction of the vehiclebody protector 14 as shown in FIG. 1. In the two-piece construction, aforward margin 118 of the rear-central portion 108 preferably extendsunder a rearward margin 120 of the forward central portion 84 so thatthe forward margin 118 of the rear-central portion 108 is overlapped.Cooperating fasteners 122 and 124, such as fabric hook and eyefasteners, can be provided as shown in FIG. 7, to secure the margins 118and 120 together.

The vehicle body protector 14 is preferably constructed of a pluralityof layers as previously described in connection with vehicle bodyprotector 12. The various fasteners to be employed to secure the vehiclebody protector 14 to the vehicle 10 can be varied as needed to best suitthe construction of the vehicle 10. Other variations will be apparent tothose skilled in the art based on the foregoing discussion and theappended claims defining the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A vehicle body protector for protecting anexternal mirror including a shell having a forward-facing decorativesurface and including a rearward-facing reflective surface, the externalmirror being coupled to a door of a motor vehicle, the protectorcomprising: an enveloping portion contoured to fit over the decorativeforward-facing surface of the exterior mirror shell, and including acollar portion contoured to surround the shell, yet leave exposed, therearward-facing reflective surface, and a tab coupled to an interioredge of the enveloping portion, the tab having a first engagement memberfor coupling to a first cooperating structure located on an internalsurface of said door.
 2. The vehicle body protector of claim 1 furthercomprising a cuff portion including a pair of cooperating fastenersadapted to engage each other between the rearward-facing reflectivesurface of the mirror and an external surface of the door.
 3. Thevehicle body protector of either of claims 1 or 2 further comprising aclip for coupling the collar portion to an inside surface of the shell.4. A vehicle body protector for protecting an external mirror includinga shell having a forward-facing decorative surface and including arearward-facing reflective surface, the external mirror being coupled toa door of a motor vehicle, the protector comprising: an envelopingportion contoured to fit over the decorative forward-facing surface ofthe exterior mirror shell, and including a collar portion contoured tosurround the shell, yet leave exposed, the rearward-facing reflectivesurface, a cuff portion including a pair of cooperating fastenersadapted to engage each other between the rearward-facing reflectivesurface of the mirror and an external surface of the door, a clip forcoupling the collar portion to an inside surface of the shell, and a tabcoupled to an interior edge of the enveloping portion, the tab having afirst engagement member for coupling to a first cooperating structurelocated on an internal surface of said door.